The Cult of Incompetence

In this timeless classic, Émile Faguet delivers a brilliant critique of democracy and its elevation of the average. The Cult of Incompetence argues that where equality reigns, competence and wisdom perish.

Key Themes and Insights:

• Modern Mass Government:
  Faguet dissects how modern mass government—for all its ideals—ends up venerating the low and empowering the inept.
  • Parliaments churning out frivolous laws.
  • Officials chosen for loyalty over skill.
  • A society cheerfully sinking into a self-inflicted mediocrity.

Why Read The Cult of Incompetence Today?

Reading The Cult of Incompetence today, one is struck by how many of Faguet’s observations anticipate ongoing issues in liberal democracies.

• In the current year, social media discourse often treats progressive apologia as equal to timeless wisdom.
• The “cult of incompetence” perhaps has metastasized in ways Faguet could only imagine.

At once provocative and erudite, this reactionary masterpiece champions the old-world virtues of knowledge, hierarchy, and earned authority.

Beatrice Barstow (Translator)